The date and format of a possible resumption of talks between the government and the opposition of Venezuela have not been set to date, Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido said on Wednesday.
“There have been no new date, no new mechanism [of dialogue],” Union Radio quoted the opposition leader as saying. “We will insist on mechanisms that will be suitable for achieving goals set by Venezuelans.”
Guaido also confirmed that a Norwegian delegation had arrived to Venezuela to assist in the resumption of dialogue between the executive branch and its political opponents.
In May, at least two rounds of talks between the Venezuelan government and the opposition were held in Oslo under Norway’s mediation. On July 8, the new round of talks kicked off in Barbados. Back then, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said that the talks were comprehensive and did not rule out that a series of agreements may be reached at negotiations.
Last week, the Venezuelan authorities refused to take part in another round of talks with the opposition in Barbados, citing “the dangerous and flagrant aggression toward Venezuela from the US President Donald Trump’s Administration.”
Political tensions in Venezuela flared up after Guaido, Venezuelan opposition leader and parliament speaker whose appointment to that position had been cancelled by the country’s Supreme Court, declared himself interim president at a rally in the country’s capital of Caracas on January 23.
Several countries, including the United States, Lima Group members (excluding Mexico), Australia, Albania, Georgia and Israel, as well as the Organization of American States, recognized him. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, in turn, blasted the move as a coup staged by Washington and said he was severing diplomatic ties with the US. In contrast, Russia, Belarus, Bolivia, Iran, Cuba, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Syria and Turkey voiced support for Maduro.